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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Isobel Lewis

Rod Stewart says feud with Elton John has come to an end after criticising singer for ‘money-grabbing’ tour

Photograph: Getty

Rod Stewart says that his “spat” with Elton John has come to an end.

The two musicians first fell out in 2018 after Stewart called John’s farewell tour “money-grabbing” and “not rock ‘n’ roll” while appearing on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.

John later wrote in his 2020 autobiography that the “Maggie May” singer had a “f***ing cheek” to lecture him when Stewart had “spent the last decade crooning his way through the Great American Songbook and ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’”.

However, appearing on The Harry Redknapp Show podcast on Tuesday (19 January), Stewart admitted that he’d reflected on his past comments and that the pair were “good mates” again.

“We’re friends again now, me and Elton,” he said. “We had the worst row, like a married couple, it went on forever. But he just said ‘I’ve forgiven Rod and everything’... No, I do love him.”

Discussing the falling out, he said: “We’ve always been fierce enemies through the years but it’s always been at a playful level, but I was a bit spiteful about when he announced his tour.

“He’d retired a couple of times before, three years to retire, and I got spiteful and I regret it. I really do regret it, but anyway we’re all good mates now.”

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